In the City of Petaluma, we are converting a 1950's tract home into a productive and sustainable food source. Packing the yards with gardens, fruit trees and bees and doing away with the front lawn, we hope to be part of the solution and an inspiration to passers by.

Friday, September 18, 2009

This post is not about nuts in the literal sense. It is not about food or homesteading at all. I am deeply troubled by the controversy surrounding the organization known as ACORN.

I find it very hard to believe that anyone would be "fooled" by this James O'Keefe character.

According to ACORN's chief executive Bertha Lewis, these people were kicked out of numerous ACORN locations and the people in these tapes have been fired. The right wing likes to crow about other ACORN employees being arrested and prosecuted for so-called voter fraud. In all of those cases, these people were turned in by ACORN to the authorities because the employees had fraudulently filled out voter registration forms. In many states it is illegal to discard the forms once they are filled out, so ACORN flagged the forms and turned them in. Blaming ACORN for "voter fraud" is like blaming Safeway when an employee is prosecuted for shoplifting.

The videos of the ACORN employees giving advice about prostitution and taxes seem kind of damning but I just don't buy this story. Something does not smell right. I would like to see the un-edited tapes. I would like to see real investigations.

The House and Senate just voted to strip ACORN of all Federal funding. Given the nature of these tapes and the organized right wing effort to smear ACORN and anyone who supports them, I can see why these resolutions passed so quickly and overwhelmingly.

So, in short, I understand how terrible it was, what ACORN employees seem to have done, but I did not realize how quickly Congress could act when they want to. And they didn't even wait for an investigation. How unusual.

How much money do you suppose ACORN gets from the government vs. DynCorp, Blackwater, KBR, etc.? How many people are killed or raped by ACORN? For ACORN's part, they need to get their employees on message and on the alert, but by this time it could be too late. The right wing is vicious.

I understand that various law enforcement agencies are investigating these allegations. I hope they uncover the entirety of these tapes and that they can shed more light on this controversy.